Dan Betzer on the blessing of Heritage

Dan Betzer, one of the most recognizeable people in the Assemblies of God, has served as pastor of First Assembly of God (Fort Myers, Florida), since 1987. He is also the assistant district superintendent of the Peninsular Florida District of the Assemblies of God.

He followed C. M. Ward as speaker on the Assemblies of God’s flagship radio program, Revivaltime, broadcasting from 1979 to 1995. Our younger readers will know him as the voice behind the Dan and Louie Bible stories that they grew up with.

He currently hosts “ByLine with Dan Betzer,” a two-minute program heard weekdays on radio stations nationwide. He also hosts the 60-second weekday ByLine Television commentary, which is aired around the world on over 900 television stations. Here is a reprint of his “ByLine” radio message from July 17th.

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“ByLine with Dan Betzer” Program # 3597
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
“The Blessing Of Heritage”
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Hello again, this is Dan Betzer. In our fellowship, the Assemblies of God, we have a periodical called Heritage. To us nostalgic types, the magazine is a blessing. We read stories and see pictures of the great men and women of the past who shaped our fellowship, heroes in the truest sense of the word. I think I have every issue ever printed. They are bound in huge volumes so they are easy to pick up and read.

Trask to resign as general superintendent

Rev. Thomas E. Trask announced on July 10, 2007 that he would step down as general superintendent of the U.S. Assemblies of God at the denomination’s biennial General Council, slated to convene August 8-11 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Nominations to fill the top office of the Assemblies of God will be accepted at the General Council.

The announcement came as a surprise, and news of the decision spread quickly. Trask conveyed his decision to step down to the AG’s Board of Administration at 9 am on July 10, 2007. He then broke the news to those who work at the Assemblies of God Headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, in a brief statement that he read over the building’s public address system at approximately 2:30 pm. At 4:00 pm, a written statement was sent to Assemblies of God ministers via the AG Minister listserv (the email is reproduced below).

Trask has served as general superintendent since November 15, 1993. He was elected to his third four-year term in 2005. As the chief executive officer of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, he is a member of the denomination’s Board of Administration and serves as chairman of the Executive Presbytery. During his tenure, the Assemblies of God has grown significantly. The number of U.S. adherents increased by 25 percent from 2,271,718 in 1993 to 2,836,174 adherents in 2006, and the worldwide constituency of the Assemblies of God increased by 124 percent from 25,448,373 in 1993 to 57,023,562 in 2006.